to help young people, in different ways, like drug use and bad experience, and good ways for the future. where is home for you now? home is somewhere that you feel safe and you feel free of any tension. i can call the uk as home because i feel safe. back in brighton, it s the morning after the night before, and bella is feeling more confident. bella wants to be successful in her life. find a partner, jobs, university, make friends and be happy. freeing afghanistan was the biggest challenge of bella s life, but her struggles aren t over now she is in the uk. i ve spent the last couple of months getting to know her and can see how isolated she is.
sometimes i feel that people really misunderstand who is a refugee. they often think people are coming to get benefits, to get housing. but people who are refugees compared to other migrants are a very small number. they are highly skilled people. they can contribute to the country. and if we welcome them we can help to integrate and build a community together. bella, hi! it s notjust integrating through work. in brighton, bella and i are off on a night out. is there any underground nightlife scenes for lgbt people in afghanistan? no. in afghanistan, it was different to the uk. they have to hide themselves. going out like this is a big dealfor bella. she finds it difficult making friends, but tonight she s going to meet others
made it out of the capital kabul last autumn after the taliban took control on flights organised by the uk government and charities. thank you very much. how are you settling in? it s amazing. i love brighton. while the majority who arrived last year are living in hotels scattered across the country, bella has moved into a flat which she has decorated with her own paintings. while i am painting, i create new worlds the reason i can survive. being lgbt is criminalised in afghanistan and when the taliban returned, those who had been living a double life underground faced being tracked down, and bella had to make a choice. in afghanistan, i had to hide myself in another body and another name. this is my bedroom. she was forced to leave everything she knew. while she s looking for work here, she receives £80 a week
with these emotions. sometimes, the people are laughing at me when i was a kid. i learned i should hide myself. i can be like my sisters and mother, girls. but they said, you are a bad boy, and waiting for men to do had something with you . bella told me there were times she considered taking her own life, and she still suffers with depression. since 14, i started medication because it was very terrible to hide myself and it made me sad, day by day. i started to be grey and i started to feel dark, more dark and more dark. reggae plays. while bella is discovering new independence in brighton,
and that i was gay. it was kind of liberating. we were hugging each other and i was a little bit crying. they asked, what s your name? she seems so nervous but brave. she said. my name is bella. she repeated it a few times. my name is bella you can call me bella. it was my first time to announce my name completely by my tongue and lips. i told myself that you re going to be safe now. almost a year after the afghan government collapsed, 3000 miles away, a group of refugees are beginning a new life. i ve spent the last couple of months getting to know a few of them. today, i am in brighton, known as one of the country s most welcoming lgbt cities. hi, bella! it s lauren. i m off to meet bella, who is transgender, and for the very first time is free to be her true self. bella! hello! hi! bella is one of around 30 people who identifies lgbt that